20152016

ANNUALREPORT

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

COLLEGE OF WILLIAM & MARY

OFFICE OF

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In line with our mission to connect the College and community to support students’development as active and educated citizens and to promote positive, community-drivenchange, the Office of Community Engagement had positive impact on students and communityboth in 2015 – 2016. Students involved in OCE programs deepened their knowledge of localsocial issues in connection to academic study, gained leadership and professional skills,furthered their development as active citizens, and created healthy, supportive community oncampus.

Likewise, community partners from Williamsburg to Ghana and Baltimore to Toano describedpositive outcomes in their work with students during the past year. Partnerships betweenW&M students and members of communities around the globe have taken the shape of directservice, advocacy and education on social issues, increased capacity in nonprofits, andrelationships that led to increased global learning and connection in a time of societal division.

The work of the OCE is vital for the College’s achievement of our overall mission: to fulfill itsspecial responsibility to the citizens of Virginia through public and community service to theCommonwealth as well as to national and international communities. Our programs are also instrong alignment with the Student Affairs mission and strategic framework, with programmingthat directly supports all but three of 29 objectives.

The impact we make in our community partnerships is clear and positive; less visible but noless real is the impact our programs have on campus. Through engagement with communitiesdifferent from those with which students are familiar, along with professional guidance inreflective practice and skill-building to enhance learning and continued action, students arebetter equipped to face salient issues they face on campus and throughout life. For example,92% of Aim 4 freshmen identified that participating in the program strengthen their ability toreflect on community issues and their role in community change.

Our staff is young and lean, but developed a strong sense of shared work and supportthroughout the year, allowing us to set and achieve new goals while maintaining high qualityprogramming in a year of significant staff change. Our programs are recognized as leaders inthe field. Our director’s recently published book has been purchased by over 500 alternativebreak and student affairs professionals across the country, and she regularly fields calls andoffers support to colleagues at other universities. Our assistant director and coordinator ofeducation programs regularly consult with staff at sister programs across the country, sharingbest practices while serving as essential mentors, contributors, and guides to students andcolleagues on campus. We are finding additional opportunities to offer our resources to faculty,particularly in the development of COLL 300 courses.

EXECUTIVESUMMARY

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

And still, we face challenges in staffing and transportation that limit our ability to meet studentlearning goals and community need. A high turnover in our staff each year hinders the potentialof program development while frustrating staff who feel best equipped to do their jobs welljust as they come to an end. Three of our four permanent staff are 10 or 11 month, and two arepart-time. A small and aging van fleet presents budgetary challenges while necessitatingreduced experiential programming off-campus – which has a negative impact on students andcommunity members alike.

With increased capacity, there would be potential for the OCE’s community-focused mission tocontinue our work off campus and turn inward, toward social issues that limit and challengeour community on campus. Using the best practices of community engagement, we can guidestudents in understanding those issues, listening well to those who are affected by them,cultivating confidence in sharing experience, and expanding empathy, solidarity, and advocacyfor a healthier community.

We look forward to the year ahead, remaining creative with our resources and taking eachchallenge and opportunity head-on with energy, intentionality, and excellence.

MELODY C. PORTERDIRECTOR

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ACCOMPLISHMENTS WITHSTUDENTS

Across the board, students involved in OCE programs deepened theirknowledge of local social issues in connection to academic study, gainedleadership and professional skills, furthered their development as activecitizens, and created healthy, supportive community on campus.

Increased Knowledge and Academic Connections

Hark upon the Burg

Education throughout OCEEducational opportunities for students included cultivation sessions for Aim 4, reflection and pre-tripeducation through Branch Out, two sections of Community Engagement in Context, Women inLeadership, and the approval of two new courses (second year Aim 4 and Branch Out Site Leadertraining) for 2016 - 17.

Hark Upon the Burg, which included a week of student activities in early November, is dedicated toincreasing awareness of housing and hunger issues in and around Williamsburg. Students participated ina documentary screening and panel on hunger and homelessness, among other activities, in which theyheard from local organizations and made connections between local and national issues.

Williamsburg EngagementWilliamsburg Engagement (WE) connects students with local nonprofit agencies in weekly communityengagement projects. Through weekly service, students develop a greater understanding of theircommunity partner, the social issues that partner addresses, and the skills needed to furthercommunity-driven change. Student leaders of WE sites also practiced leadership with their volunteersand community partners. When WE student leaders discovered that the original goal for service was no longer needed and thegroup’s purpose had been eliminated, they navigated the challenging conversations with the nonprofitstaff and their student volunteers about ending the trip. Through these conversations, the site leadersmaintained a commitment to their purpose of sustainability and a level of integrity when working withour partners.

The OCE focused our assessment practice this year on the learning goal: “students will demonstrateknowledge of relevant social issues and their root causes.” 88-97% of students across our programsdemonstrated new things they learned about social issues through their community engagement. With consistent practices of issue-focused, student-led education and OCE staff-led academic instructionand discussion facilitation, students delve deeply into social issues that affect our community on and offcampus.

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Through service on executive boards, negotiating relationships and projectswith community partners, and guiding peers in critical reflection practice,OCE students gain valuable leadership and professional skills.

Leadership and Personal Development

CPK Change TeamFive students, including CPK’s directors, two site leaders, and one first-year tutor, gathered weekly withthe coordinator for education programs, Sherry McKinney, to research best practices for tutoring andmentoring programs, assess community needs, and create a plan for CPK’s future. The group readarticles, explored school data, interviewed local school administrators, and learned about OCE’s valuesand goals. As a result of this work, CPK will be implementing the following changes for 2016-17 in strongcollaboration with school partners:

New leadership structure, which prioritizes education, orientation, training, andreflection as central to CPK’s work

New approach to training, which includes both initial and ongoing instruction

School-based mentoring partnerships with James River Elementary School andBerkeley Middle School

A focus on building partnerships around clear school-identified needs

Branch Out Student DirectorsThis year, Branch Out sponsored 23 alternative break trips for students, ranging in location fromWilliamsburg, VA to New York, NY to Nyumbani Village, Kenya. Student leaders in Branch Out tested andgained leadership skills while overhauling the program with significant structural changes. With theadvising and guidance of the Director of the OCE and the Fellow for Alternative Breaks, student directorspracticed collaboration toward a common purpose through an intentional process of redesigning theinternal leadership structure, defining program values for Branch Out, and rebranding with a new logoand communication strategy. Students also built strong relationships and buy-in for an overhaul of our international program, at timesnavigating controversy with civility, winnowing numbers of trips from 10 to 5 for the sake of increasedquality and alignment with values and best practices.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS WITHSTUDENTS

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Community Engagement GrantsStudents gain professional development experience by preparing grant applications andserving on grant selection committees. Committee members read five to seven applications,review and evaluate applications based on our grant rubric, and discuss theirrecommendations in small groups. In this competitive process, students must make toughdecisions about funding, weighing factors such as potential for student growth, communityimpact, and applicants’ financial need.

Committee members practice negotiating disagreements with civility, presenting evidenceand arguments for the projects they want to fund, and confidential decision-making. Studentson the committee recognize that with almost $40,000 in funding to distribute theirdiscernment and decision making has a real effect on their peers and the communities theywork in.

Funded Local InternshipsA new program this year, Funded Local Internships create 200-hour professional learningexperiences for three students during the summer, while supporting local long-termcommunity partners.

Students receive $2,000 of guaranteed funding, and the OCE achieved our goal of developingmore capacity-building projects that meet critical need and allow students to contribute skillsand knowledge. These and all Community Engagement Grant recipients will complete threereflection posts that address the values, strengths, and skills students utilize during theircommunity projects, the knowledge they gain about community issues and root causes, andtheir plans for building this experience into their future academic and professional plans.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS WITHSTUDENTS

IN THEIR OWN WORDSI have learned how necessary it is for me — and others— to become an active agent of change in communitiesI am rooted in, even when I may feel distanced from theend result of my labor.

- Participant on an alternative breakfocused on urban food systems

Project Phoenix and Pineapple Kids

Students across OCE programs grew in active citizenship through developingrelationships with community members and partners, examining and revisinglife choices, and committing to expanding their work with new experiences incommunity.

Project Phoenix and Pineapple Kids board members and volunteers worked with the guidanceof the fellow for education programs, Alexis Foxworth, to restructure their organizations tobetter align with their values, best practices of community engagement, and to build a strongculture of reflection and training. Pineapple Kids developed group norms and values: reflection,training, sustainability and organizational certainty, and a commitment to the students wework with. In Project Phoenix, the practice of reflection became more institutionalized and of deepervalue, as demonstrated by survey data and exit interviews with board. They reorganized theirleadership structure for increased efficiency, adherence to best practices, and a focus onreflection and training. The process was challenging, but the fellow for education programsand OCE director worked with them to develop a manageable structure and create afoundation that will successfully execute group goals.

Active Citizenship and Increased Commitment to Service

Collaborate to Educate Student TrainingThe Collaborate to Educate conference, a comprehensive and critical training opportunity for more than 30student participants in all OCE education programs, debuted in January 2016. Faculty and community expertspresented to students, who responded by making programmatic changes. Due to their increased awarenessfrom participation in C2E, directors in Lafayette Kids recognized a need for better behavioral managementskills among Bigs (tutors) and invited School of Education professor Debbie Ramer to present her C2Eworkshop to the full group of Bigs. The directors also led a session on unpacking the term “achievement gap”that was inspired by a C2E workshop. In addition, several LKids Bigs attended Lisa Delpit’s Hornsby lecture,“The Stories We Tell: Disrupting Narratives of Other People’s Children,” and discussed the implications for ourwork with Littles at Lafayette Village.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS WITHSTUDENTS

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Aim 4In 2015-16, Aim 4 added a sophomore cohort and became the responsibility of our assistant director,Elizabeth Miller. Together, thirteen freshmen and ten sophomores in Aim 4 spent more than 800 hoursengaging with 18 local community organizations and completed 50 hours of developmental programmingfocused on active citizenship education and reflection. Members of the group challenged each other to takerisks in personal presentations and civic action, and supported each other’s growth by collaborating oncommunity projects.

Developing Healthy, Supportive CommunityIn a season when community is under scrutiny on campus, for its manysuccesses and shortcomings, OCE programs have surrounded students withsupportive colleagues and trusted friends. Skills learned in communityengagement, including critical thinking around social issues, gaining practicein empathy, and open dialogue about difficult issues, prepare students tonavigate complexities of race, gender, violence, and wellbeing in their dailylives. Hard work on shared goals fosters bonds of trust that allow students toshare their struggles and vulnerability in a community of trust.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS WITHSTUDENTS

IN THEIR OWN WORDSThe volunteers for CPK were a pleasure to work withthis school year. They not only helped with academicsbut they strived to make that personal connection withthe students they mentored. The impact the tutors hadwas felt no only in the classroom but also throughoutthe community

-Jeffrey L. Wallisch (SAC/TMS) Teacher, Hornsby Middle School

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Community partners from Williamsburg to Kenya described positive outcomesin their work with students during the past year. Through OCE projects, fourthgraders’ reading skills have improved. Families have worked alongsidestudents to build safe housing. Refugee children, individuals transitioningfrom incarceration, and women affected by sex trafficking have foundempathic connection and taught our students through developingrelationships with them.

With each project, ranging from year-long local tutoring programs to week-long international partnerships, community partners work directly withstudents communicate their goals, discuss potential projects, and increaseawareness and understanding of their mission by presenting communityinformation and social justice topic education to students.

Partnerships between W&M students and members of communities around theglobe have resulted in needed assistance with direct service, advocacy andeducation on social issues, increased capacity in nonprofits, and relationshipsthat lead to increased global learning and connection in a time of societaldivision.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS WITHCOMMUNITY

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Our office has heightened a focus on understanding andassessing our impact, and developing clear goals allows formutually beneficial partnerships, and provides benchmarksfor assessment and evaluation.

After goals are developed and projects completed –whether they are one-day service, year-long educationprograms, or alternative breaks – students and partnersreconnect for conversation to assess the program’s impactand develop ways to improve in future partnerships.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS WITHCOMMUNITY

Student Involvement in Direct Service and EducationStudents in OCE programs partner with communities for impact in severalways:

after school tutoring and in-class support in Head Start, elementary, and middle schools

enrichment for local K-12 students through learning activities ranging from farm and aquarium visits toimprov performances

developing one-time, week-long, and year-long capacity-building projects, ranging from HIV educationand outreach to people in marginalized populations to supporting equine therapy for individuals withspecial needs

educating our community on social issues, including the educational opportunity gap, homelessness inWilliamsburg, and food justice

celebrating community through a spring festival and shared meals

developing relationships with people across our communities: creating a sense of belonging for middleschool students in Toano, sharing empathy with women affected by sex trafficking in Baltimore, andworking through challenges and developing future goals with nonprofit staff and community leaders

Staff Capacity-Building OCE staff create partnerships as well, and this year, met with communitypartners to develop capacity-building projects through our programs, inconcert with faculty, and via internships promoted by Cohen Career Center.We also surveyed several stakeholders from the Williamsburg and JamesCity County planning commissions, United Way, City of Williamsburg,Williamsburg Health Foundation, and other nonprofits to gain a sense ofcurrent community needs. The Community Advisory Committee, a group oflocal leaders in nonprofit and schools, gave feedback and insight on ourstrategic plan and initiatives related to it. OCE Staff also supported a community-wide effort to secure funding forseveral AmeriCorps*VISTA positions to be placed in local nonprofits, byoffering technical assistance throughout the application process andcommitting to shared training with our Fellows.

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ACCOMPLISHMENTS WITHCOLLEAGUES

Developing RelationshipsWe held 17 one on one meetings with faculty, several with fellow staff, and more than 20community partners to develop new opportunities and build relationships. This outreachallowed us to promote the work of the OCE, define community engagement, and developshared goals in student learning and community work. We also strengthenedcollaborative relationships with the School of Education in promoting the EducationStudies minor and the Noyce Scholarship program, and the CSD to develop sharedprogramming on student campus activism in fall 2016.

Alumni Development and FundraisingWe continue to foster strong, personal relationships with alumni and donors through in-person meetings, handwritten letters, emails, and hosting a Homecoming reception. Ourmajor donors have continued to support the Friedery Alternative Breaks endowment,building closer to their committed $500,000. We created two campaigns for One Tribe OneDay to support university-wide alumni engagement efforts.

Sharing Knowledge and Contributing to CommunityOur director, Melody Porter, promoted her book, Working Side by Side, with campusministers and student affairs staff on campus, and broadly with faculty, staff, students,and nonprofit partners through national presentations, listservs, and conferences. Sheserved as Chair of Break Away Board of Directors from April 2014 – 2016 and continues onthe board, focusing on national partnerships. She delivered a keynote speech at Gulf-South Summit in April, served on a nation-wide team for Civic Values Rubric development(for VALUE Rubrics/AAC&U), and participated in monthly calls and blogged with NASPA’sLead Initiative for Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement. Our assistant director,Elizabeth Miller, is a frequent volunteer for campus events, ranging from Baccalaureatehead usher and New Employee Orientation to the Licensing Committee. As co-instructor ofWomen in Leadership, she facilitates new instruction annually and reaches dozens ofleaders across campus and in the community. Our coordinator for education programs,Sherry McKinney, has served on the Noyce Scholarship leadership team, consulted withfaculty on the development of concentrations in the School of Education, and supportedthe promotion of an Education Studies minor.

The OCE created goals and made strides in the areas of faculty partnershipdevelopment, researching community needs, and increasing opportunities forstudents to participate in capacity-building projects with community partners.

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This was a year of major transition among our staff, with the assistant director taking onnew responsibility, adding four new fellows and one new coordinator to our staff, andthe director taking her role after the start of the school year while continuing to fulfill herassociate director responsibilities. Through purposeful staff development including issueeducation and team building, we developed a strong sense of team that resulted in deeplearning for our fellows through our formation program and training on core practices ofservice-learning, and healthy collaboration amongst permanent staff.

We addressed several budget errors including misaligned funding for staff positions anda $13,000 debt, with the strong support of Greg Henderson in the Vice President’s office.We worked with colleagues in Student Leadership and Engagement and Risk Managementto discuss transporting children in our education programs, and the director changed ourpolicy, developing a partnership with W-JCC Schools transportation to lower risk andliability, and end the practice of students driving children.

The strength of our team this year positioned us to look forward with purpose,developing a strategic plan for 2016-19 with six ambitious goals, described in the Goalssection below.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS WITHCOLLEAGUES

Working with Pineapple Kids has helped me to developa better sense of how poverty directly affectscommunities. Rather than simply acknowledging thatpoverty exists, the students in this organization work tounderstand the roots of the problem and what can bedone to address it.

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

-Pineapple Kids board member

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ORGANIZATIONAL CHALLENGESStaffing

The majority of our staff hours are through our community engagement fellows - recentgraduates on a ten-month contract, with annual transition and training. Lack ofconsistency hinders long-term development of student relationships, potential ofprogram growth, and sustainability of community relationships. Annual turnover is astrain for permanent staff in training new young professionals each year, and the steeplearning curve takes time for the staff to feel prepared and reach stability. Additionally,we are entering our third year of a three-year funding commitment, without a plan forfuture funding.

With our staff changes, our associate director position was effectively eliminated. Theresults are serious: reduced overall capacity, the need to rely on a recent graduate tooversee alternative breaks - a complex program with international risk management anda large budget (expected to be $150,000 next year), and four education programsoperating with similar goals but inconsistent advising, assessment, and partnershipmanagement. Our coordinator of education programs position was reduced from full-time to part-timelast year. A key goal of the OCE is to revamp education programs to be more in line withcurrent best practices (two of four programs are 20+ years old) for greater studentlearning and leadership opportunities and measurable impact in schools. At 25 hours perweek for ten months, the coordinator has time to focus on updating of only one of thefour education programs. Two programs are overseen by a 10-month communityengagement fellow with limited experience and yearly turnover. Truly supporting thelearning of students in our education programs would require a full-time employee whocan give each program the attention it deserves.

We anticipate future staffing challenges as well, with our growing programs: The successand growth of Aim 4, adding a new cohort each year, requires increasing staff time forprogram management, instruction, and advising. In one-on-one advising alone, that addsmore than 50 hours of Aim 4 time the responsibilities of our assistant director, notincluding the new programming for juniors and responding to student needs as theyarise. 13

Our part-time (30 hours/week) office manager, who spent40% of her time supporting our AVP and 60% of her timesupporting the OCE, was unable to offer full support to stafffor all of our administrative needs. She faced increasedaccounting tasks with the redesign of alternative breakstructure. We cover our front office with student workersfor two hours each day, though they lack consistency andexpertise in critical tasks such as managing finances orcalendars. We lost our office manager in June because of herinterest in having a full-time position, and the pressure of ahigh work load without enough pay and hours.

ORGANIZATIONAL CHALLENGES

TransportationIncreasing costs for maintenance with aging vans and a reassignment of gas chargesfrom SLD (an artifact of the previous Student Affairs structure) to OCE result in significantunbudgeted expenses. We will need to replace tires on all vans next year ($2,250), and itis likely that we will need to replace three of our vans in the short term - $25,000 each.As it is, the ever-increasing involvement of students in consistent communityengagement comes a need for greater access to service opportunities. Our vans arebooked almost daily. Aim 4 students’ community engagement relies primarily on OCEprograms, and our expansion of that program is hindered by our inability to transportmore students off campus.

Our decision to reduce risk and liability to the College, our students, and minors in the community, by ending the practice of students driving children for our education programs will require a $6000 reallocation of budget funds to pay for professional transportation.

Transportation limitations test our effectiveness with community partnerships as well. Because we rely on a small group of van-certified student drivers for CPK transportation, tutoring times are determined by their

schedules. Maintaining consistent tutoring times across semesters often proveschallenging if not impossible, which inhibits our ability to continue with a classroom for afull academic year and develop long-term, meaningful relationships. Tutors are often noteven able to stay at one school for an entire year as they discover that there are noavailable shifts at their schools that match their second semester schedules.

The benefit of quality after-school programs is far better documented in the researchliterature than in-class academic support, but because vans are in short supply from 2 –6 pm, CPK places nearly 75% of volunteers in classrooms even though there is littleevidence that they are providing a significant benefit. Aim 4 faces similar challenges ingetting students off campus for immersive learning opportunities, instead bringing guestspeakers to us and missing out on opportunities to participate in community events.

These seemingly simple scheduling challenges significantly limit our ability to have ameaningful impact both with schools and our students. They could be met if we wereable to employ drivers during regularly scheduled blocks with a shuttle system, as othercampuses do. This would allow us to expand our reach, especially during the busy afterschool hours, and commit to consistent tutoring, mentoring, and volunteer times acrosssemesters or even years.

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GOALS

Promoting Leadership: Participants in our programs practice active citizenship whilecultivating global learning, lifelong leadership, and skills to build community

Active Citizenship on Campus: W&M students learn about, reflect, and act on social issuesas part of their lives

Allies on Campus: Faculty and staff partner with us for community-based learning andconnections

Alumni Partnerships: Alumni grow in active citizenship while contributing theirincreasing knowledge, skills, and resources to our mission

Community Partnerships: Community partnerships increase capacity and make a clearimpact

Identity: People on campus and in our community know our purpose, culture, and goals

Student leaders will guide the implementation of a new mentoring program throughCollege Partnership for Kids, utilizing nationally-recognized best practices and ongoingtraining for mentors, at the request of teachers and school administrators

Enhanced student leader training, including a half-day training in core practices ofservice-learning and leadership positions dedicated to providing ongoing training

Student leaders will receive academic credit for their participation in Branch Out as siteleaders and Aim 4 (now for first year and upperclass students)

Promoting Leadership

In the coming year, the OCE will make strides towards these goals byimplementing various processes and objectives, including:

As outlined in our strategic plan for 2016 – 2019, the OCE has sixoverall strategic goals for growth:

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Alumni Partnerships

Creating and supporting local service efforts to complement an OCE-based alumnaeeffort to celebrate 50 & 100 years of women at W&M through reflective story-telling

Publicizing opportunities for episodic involvement in OCE activities toalumni across the US

GOALS

Allies on CampusContinued and expanded efforts to develop collaborative possibilities withfaculty and community partners

The OCE and Center for Student Diversity will partner to present a four-weektraining and discussion series for student leaders in our programs focused oneffective community-building and activism skills; working title: “Who Comes HereBelongs Here”

Developing workshops for faculty interested in creating community-basedlearning opportunities to share our resources with them, particularly for COLL 300course development

A cross-campus collaboration involving faculty, campus ministries, and other programswill convene and present a series of speakers and follow-on activities related to salientsocial justice issues; working title: “The Daily Work of Justice,” allowing us to reach andeducate students who otherwise would not be involved in OCE programs.

Active Citizenship on Campus

Community PartnershipsRevising our MOU/impact plan process to recognize assets contributed bycommunity members, partners, and students

Developing opportunities for students and community members to serve side byside while learning more about the impact of local issues, as a practical trainingfor lifelong community and civic engagement

IdentityNurturing a culture of welcome for student participants and leaders

Publicly recognizing the quiet contributions of students in community, assuggested by community partners

Implementing a communications strategy

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